Opera

Rigoletto

Giuseppe Verdi

02 Dec, 23 - 02 Jan, 24

Musical Conductor: Nicola Luisotti y Christoph Koncz | Stage direction: Miguel del Arco | Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro Real

Miguel del Arco, stage director, is known for being the director of the play Jauría, which inspired this new production. On this occasion, and to show this libretto of drama, passion, deceit and revenge, performed more than 300 times at the Teatro Real, the stage director will use the courtship and kidnapping of Gilda, the protagonist's daughter, to emphasise the helplessness of a woman in the face of a group of men in which society's concept of masculinity is discussed. With the great voices of Javier Camarena, Xabier Anduaga, Ludovic Tézier, Adela Zaharia and Julie Fuchs.

To elevate a jester to a tragic stature comparable of a Macbeth or a Lear is not an easy feat; even more so when it was the first time in the history of opera. The dramatic essence of Shakespeare runs in the veins of this Rigoletto, although, in reality, the story is based on the controversial Le roi s’amuse by Victor Hugo.

This opera was prohibited in France for more than fifty years, but the Austrian censors authorized it by demoting the king in the title to a duke to diminish the magnitude of the assassination - or in an attempt - which constitutes the crux of the plot. However, they overlooked the crucial monologues of the jester —«Pari siamo» and «Cortigiani»—, transformed, thanks to the music of Verdi, in two unsuspected expressions of protest and social resentment.

Many-sided, as perhaps no other opera by Verdi - tender but also cruel, interspersed with remarkable strokes of black humour—, Rigoletto is also a heart-wrenching study about parent-child love: a fable about an overprotective father and filial emancipation resolved by the excessive gesturing of the Grand Guignol.

Melodramma in three acts

Music by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)

Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the theatre play Le roi s’amuse (1832) by Victor Hugo

Premiere at La Fenice in Venice on 11 March 1851

Premiere at the Teatro Real on 18 October 1853

New production of the Teatro Real, in co-production with ABAO Bilbao Ópera and Teatro de la Maestranza de Sevilla

Artistic Team

Musical conductor: Nicola Luisotti

Christoph Koncz __ 18, 26, 29 dec; 2 jan

Stage direction: Miguel del Arco

Set design: Sven Jonke

Costume design: Ana Garay

Lighting: Juan Gómez-Cornejo

Choreography: Luz Arcas

Chorus Master: José Luis Basso

Cast

Duke of Mantua: Javier Camarena __ 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 27, 30 dec

Xabier Anduaga __ 3, 7, 10, 13, 18, 29 dec; 2 jan

John Osborn __ 6, 12, 15, 19, 23, 26 dec

Rigoletto: Ludovic Tézier __ 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 27, 30 dec

Étienne Dupuis __ 3, 7, 10, 13, 18, 29 dec

Quinn Kelsey __ 6, 12, 15, 19, 26 dec; 2 jan

Gilda: Adela Zaharia __ 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 27, 30 dec

Julie Fuchs __ 3, 7, 10, 13, 18, 29 dec

Ruth Iniesta __ 6, 12, 15, 19, 26 dec; 2 jan

Sparafucile: Andrea Mastroni _ 2, 5, 6, 8, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 20, 23, 27, 30 dec; 2 jan

Peixin Chen _3, 7, 10, 13, 18, 19, 26, 29 dec

Maddalena: Marina Viotti __ 2, 5, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 27, 30 dec; 2 jan

Ramona Zaharia __ 3, 7, 10, 13, 18, 26, 29 dec

Martina Belli __ 12, 15, 19 dec

Giovanna: Cassandre Berthon __ 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 27, 30 dec

Marifé Nogales __ 3, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13, 15, 18, 19, 26, 29 dec; 2 jan

Count Monterone: Jordan Shanahan __ 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 27, 30 dec

Fernando Radó __ 3, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13, 15, 18, 19, 26, 29 dec; 2 jan

Marullo: César San Martín

Matteo Borsa: Fabián Lara __ 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 27, 30 dec

Josep Fadó __ 3, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13, 15, 18, 19, 26, 29 dec; 2 jan

Count Ceprano: Tomeu Bibiloni

Countess Ceprano: Sandra Pastrana

Pageboy: Inés Ballesteros

Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro Real

Leer menos

Synopsis of Rigoletto

El Duque de Mantua seduce y deshonra a cuantas mujeres desea, matando a sus padres y esposos sin miramientos. Rigoletto, su bufón, es su cómplice en todas estas barbaridades, pero ha estado criando a una hija en secreto y con ella es un padre atento y cariñoso que hace lo posible para proteger a Gilda. Pero Rigoletto se convierte en víctima de sus propios crímenes, ya que es cómplice del secuestro de su propia hija, y uno de los culpables de su muerte.

Artistic information

Artistic team

Musical conductor Nicola Luisotti

Musical conductor Christoph Koncz

Stage Director Miguel del Arco

Concepto escenográfico Sven Jonke

Diseño de vestuario Ana Garay

Concepto de iluminación Juan Gómez-Cornejo

Coreografía Luz Arcas

Chorus Conductor José Luis Basso

Cast

Duke of Mantua Javier Camarena

Duke of Mantua Xabier Anduaga

Duke of Mantua John Osborn

Rigoletto Ludovic Tézier

Rigoletto Etienne Dupuis

Rigoletto Quinn Kelsey

Gilda Adela Zaharia

Gilda Julie Fuchs

Gilda Ruth Iniesta

Sparafucile Andrea Mastroni

Sparafucile Peixin Chen

Maddalena Marina Viotti

Maddalena Ramona Zaharia

Maddalena Martina Belli

Giovanna Cassandre Berthon

Releases

Protective Friend

16 October

2023

Supporter and Benefactor Friend

17 October

2023

Patron friends, Family Friend and Young Friend

18 October

2023

Subscribers friend and young non-friends

19 October

2023

Tickets on sale

20 October

2023

Performances

Date/hour
Space
Cast
Subscription ticket

02 December 2023